Focus

Bee's new post is entitled This and That - I was briefly afraid that those might be the new names of epsilon and delta - but it is definitely in the don't miss category for it's pitiful story of an obviously talented lad who just couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do with himself, switching aimlessly among majors.

I liked Ed, but felt sorry for him, too, because, for all his potential, he lacked focus. He had been a history major in college, and a linguistics minor. On graduating, though, he concluded that, as rewarding as these fields had been, he was not really cut out to make a living at them. He decided that what he was really meant to do was study economics. And so, he applied to graduate school, and was accepted at the University of Wisconsin. And, after only a semester, he dropped out of the program. Not for him. So, history was out; linguistics, out; economics, out. What to do? This was a time of widespread political activism, and Ed became an aide to Senator George McGovern, then running for the presidency on an anti-war platform. He also wrote articles for political journals like the Nation and the New Republic. After some months, Ed realized that politics was not for him, because, in his words, it demanded qualities he did not have, foremost among them common sense. All right, then: history, linguistics, economics, politics, were all out as career choices. What to do? Ed suddenly realized that he was really suited to study mathematics. So he applied to graduate school, and was accepted at Princeton. I met him midway through his first year there--just after he had dropped out of the mathematics department...

If you don't recognize the script by now, you will just have to follow the link to Bee's post - and while you are there don't miss the tale of a medical mystery that could have kept Dr. House busy for an episode or two.

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